2061.2 Offseason recap

[handaspencer]

Heading into the 2061 offseason fans knew there could be a lot of changes, and this offseason did not disappoint if you like changeover. I want to highlight some of those changes and the impact they will have on the organization.

Outfield
Outside of Jorge Delgado our goal in the outfield was to bring in competition to compete for open jobs. Delgado will continue to be our primary OF but separated his shoulder in spring training and is questionable for opening day. Most likely once he does recover, we will send him on rehab assignment since he missed most of the spring and allow for a proper recovery. We are going to give Joe Roy a shot to make the club this season. Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2058 he has positioned himself to compete for a job this year and we want to give him that opportunity. We also claimed 22 year old Thurman Dostie from Montreal this offseason and he could compete for the last OF position on the club. Last season Asadel Nasser was blocked and spent most of his time in AAA last season. We felt he spent plenty time if AAA last couple seasons and had success and 2061 is his opportunity to prove himself. When you bring in competition sometimes interesting things can happen and guys that you was not expecting can surprise you. As an organization we want to give those guys opportunities first. I am excited for the young group we have and even if we can have one guy break through for us and be part of the outfield rotation for years it will be a positive.


INFIELD
This offseason Omaha received the news that legend IF Luis Mendoza was going to retire. He spent last season playing at 3B and 1B so this left an immediate hole in the IF that needed filled. We have brought in Roberto Villanueva to start the season at 3B. He spent last season in Sacramento. He was brought in on a minor league deal and with his ability to play multiple positions he was a good fit for us in the 2061 season. 38 year old well known BBA player Larry Barkin will get a shot to start at SS this season after being traded to Los Vegas and then released was signed on a 1 year deal by Omaha. Starting at SS has not been something he has been use to but with his ability to also play 2B he can be a rotation piece if we find another SS option that provides an upgrade for us defensively. SS Artus Kihlstedt was also just recently signed on a 1 year deal and is competing for the last spot in the IF. We are going to let 1B Stan Lodge open the season at 1B. After we traded for him last season we slowly worked him into the rotation and he did not dissapoint. We are hoping this can be a good season for the 22 year old Lodge. We entered the offseason without a C on the roster and this position was a priority for us. Our biggest FA move this offseason was to bring back C Sloth Fratelli back to Omaha on a 1 year deal. We are excited that Sloth wanted to return to our organization for the 2061. We also made a trade to aquire our back C Juan Suarez from Mexico City. Suarez is someone we liked who can provide us good defensive depth at the C postion for the next several years. The 24 year old was just waiting for his opportunity and he will get that this season.


PITCHING STAFF
This offseason was no different than other areas of the club we brought in additional arms to compete for roster spots and depth in AAA. In the rule 5 draft in a shock style move Omaha drafted Felipe Mendez from San Fernando. He did not spend any time in the BBA last season but started 22 games in AAA last season and went 9-3. He is an iron man and we could use his help in our rotation and he seemed like a good fit for us and its no issue to roster him for the entire season. In the biggest offseason move we traded SP Billy Kelly to Phoenix as they needed additional SP depth. Last season we picked up Kelly off the waiver wire and created much laughter and doubt among the national media on what would cause Omaha to pick up Kelly. Omaha had assurances that they would place other contracts on the waiver wire and those contracts would get picked up to offset the cost to aquire Kelly. Last season Kelly had a NTC so this type of move had to be made and once he came to Omaha he changed his status to a partial no trade. Aggur Lugono was the end result for that Kelly move. Lugono comes to Omaha ranked as the #112 OSA prospect and could be competing for a backup job in the infield in a couple seasons. Elvin Hilliard was brought in on a 1 year deal to compete in the rotation and having a decent season last year going 8-10. Armando Rodriguez was also brought in from Bikini last season and will be getting a shot to make the rotation. The pitching staff stayed a little more stable than the offensive side but we like who we brought in this season and we think they can make an impact.

We are positioned to add additional guys as well as spring training winds down. We are still sitting near the bottom of the league in payroll and we have some wiggle room to add some guys during roster cuts. It seems every year as teams trim down to the opening day roster some surprises occur and we want to be postioned to make those moves. I am pretty confident we are not done but I am not expecting anything earth shattering I think what you have seen this offseaon will continue as we continue to create competion and remain in a safter mode during this current part of the rebuild.

[BaseClogger]

I always enjoy when the discord chatter is characterized as “the national media”